MOBILE, Ala. | ULM pulled within one and had two on, but Oliva Lackie entered in relief and retired the final two batters to pick up the save and clinch the series for South Alabama as the Jags won, 2-1 Saturday night at Jaguar Field.

South Alabama (24-10, 7-1 SBC) has now won nine of its last 10 and remains tied with Louisiana for second place. ULM drops to 19-17 overall and 3-5 in Sun Belt play. 

Sasha Willems was 3-for-3 at the plate and scored a run, while Odalys Cordova also had a hit and drove in a run. Jenna Hardy (11-6) tossed 6.1 innings to pick up her 11th win of the season.

Quotable – head coach Becky Clark
- On the game: "I thought we competed and fought tonight. We had a lot of opportunities offensively that we did not capitalize on, so tomorrow will be a chance for us to make that adjustment.  I thought defensively we were solid and (Jenna) Hardy gave us a quality start. I wanted to see her finish it out, but Liv (Olivia Lackie) was able to come in and get the last two. ULM is a quality team, so tomorrow will be another fight for us."

Senior C Emma Kropp
- On her performance tonight: "I was really struggling at the plate tonight, but I knew I had to really work for my pitchers and for my team. We created an acronym that has really helped us work together better the past two weeks."

- On the key to the team's success as of late: "It's really just about working together. We're really trying to string quality at-bats together and get the runs when we need it. We're doing a great job of working together. 

- On throwing the two runners out attempting to steal in a tight ball game: "Whenever I know that there's a quick runner on base, I'm planning on her attempting to steal every time. I knew that I needed to work for Jenna whenever those runners were on base, so I was just trying to get them out when I knew those quick runners were on base."

South Alabama 2, ULM 1
With two outs in the bottom of the first, Victoria Ortiz lined a double off the wall in left. Willems then followed with a single to center to put runners at the corners. Cordova put the Jags on top (1-0) as she bounced a single through the right side of the infield – the third-straight two-out hit – scoring Ortiz.

Mackenzie Brasher reached on a one-out infield single – a play that was originally ruled an out but was overturned after a replay review. Brasher then stole second – her fourth stolen base of the series – and two batters later, Willems singled off the pitcher's glove to put runners at the corners with two outs, but ULM's Victoria Abrams (4-6) fielded a hot shot back up the middle and threw onto first for the third out of the frame.

With two outs in the Jaguar fourth, Bailey Welch lined a double down the left field line, and Marley Sims walked on four-straight out of the zone. Meredith Keel then worked the count full and drew a walk of her own to load the bases, but Abrams was able to get a strikeout swinging to work out of the jam.

Willems recorded her third hit of the evening as she lined a one-out single to left in the bottom of the fifth. Cordova then reached on an error to put a pair of for South, and one batter later, the Warhawks committed their second miscue of the frame as Gabby Stagner reached, allowing Willems to score (2-0).

Ashlynn Ard cut the Jaguar lead in half (2-1) as she led off the seventh with a solo shot over the wall in left center. Pinch hitter Andie Edwards then reached on a one-out infield single and Alexis Chavez walked to put a pair on. With two aboard and just the one out, Lackie entered the circle and retired the final two batters with a strikeout and a pop out to Sims at short.

Scoring Summary
•    1st Inn | Cordova singled through the right side of the infield, RBI; Ortiz scored (1-0, USA)
•    5th Inn | Stagner reached on an error by 2b; Willems scored, unearned (2-0, USA)
•    7th Inn | Ard homered to left center, RBI (2-1, ULM)

Postgame Notes
•    Five of South's eight hits came with two outs, while ULM was 0-for-6 in two-out situations
•    Ortiz extended her reached base safely streak to 11 straight with her first-inning double
•    Ortiz has had at least one hit in six of her last seven and 12 of her last 15, registering seven of her 10 multi-hit games over that span
•    Over the last 15 games, Ortiz has recorded seven multi-hit games, had 11 extra-base hits, scored 13 runs and driven in 22 runs
•    Cordova has had a hit in 11 of her last 15 and reached base safely in each of her last six
•    Brasher has had a hit in 11 of her last 14 games and reached base safely in 12 of those contests, including each of her last nine
•    With her fourth-inning double, Welch has had a hit in four of her last six, and reached base safely in eight of her last 10 contests
•    Sims has now reached base safely in 23 of her last 31, while Keel has reached base safely in 11 of the last 12 
•    The home run allowed by Hardy in the top of the seventh marked the first given up by Jag pitching since March 11 versus Lehigh
•    Jaguar catcher Emma Kropp threw out a pair of ULM runners and 12 for her career 

Up Next
•    South Alabama will close out the series with ULM on Sunday with first pitch of game three of the series set for 1 p.m. at Jaguar Field.

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